07/08/2020
It's important for the residents of Helena to understand the recent history surrounding police staffing/funding and the city commissions' priorities. Over two years ago this letter was sent to the Mayor and Commissioners when they presented the fire levy. At that time they were made aware of other critical emergency services budget shortages in Helena.
Officer Matt Lewis also addressed the Commission and a review of those meeting minutes (3-12-18) shows that the commissioners claimed to be unaware of the needs of the Police Department and Dispatch and promised to address those two departments next. Instead of keeping that promise, under Anna Cortez almost a half a million dollars was cut from the police budget and there is still no assistant chief of Police. A third party staffing study has Been requested but results are not yet complete and the Commission has not seen fit to furnish funding for a third party analysis of the data pertaining to workload and staffing that has been, and continues to be, collected by the Department.
The idea of cutting 4 police positions from our drastically understaffed department is beyond reckless and should not even be considered. Everyone would love to see more mental health resources available, but you cant take strands from society's last safety net to fund that project and expect meaningful improvements to be made.
TO: Mayor Wilmot Collins & Helena City Commissioners
SUBJECT: Emergency Services Mill Levy Concerns
March 10th, 2018
City Leaders,
We appreciate and applaud the focus you have recently directed towards the critical state of emergency services in Helena. Unfortunately we fear you may have only been provided with a narrow and one sided view of the growing issues facing our community. We apologize in advance for the timing of this letter, but we only recently learned of the potential Mill Levey proposal for Helena Fire through reading the Independent Record.
While we do not dispute the numbers Helena Fire has presented, we would like to bring other concerns to your attention. All emergency services in Helena have been working critically understaffed for years. This issue has led to the Helena Police Department and the 911 Dispatch Center being plagued with numerous issues. The Helena Police Department has gotten to a point where response times are steadily increasing and on a daily basis officers are forced to respond to dangerous calls alone.
Due to a critical shortage of staffing within the Helena Police Department officers commonly rely on mutual aid from the Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Office. While the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office have a strong working relationship, their assistance has just been a Band-Aid for an ever growing problem. Deputies are becoming increasingly less available during peak service hours and are often responding from remote locations when called to assist the Police Department.
While firefighters have the luxury of responding to calls as a group, we are consistently sending officers into dangerous situations alone and with increasingly fewer additional resources available.
In 2017 Helena Police Officers responded to and investigated 29,457 calls for service; compared to Helena Fire’s reported 4,015 calls for service. So far in 2018 there have been 365 calls where an officer was not immediately available to respond to investigate the complaint. This is a daily occurrence and the number will continue to grow exponentially through the rest of 2018.
It’s important to note that both agencies have a “patrol/responding” division of around 30 members. Currently Helena Fire has a minimum staffing of 6 firefighters, while the Helena Police Department has a minimum required staffing of 4 officers per shift.
In 2017 Helena Police Officers completed 7,264 initial written reports, many of which require additional supplemental reports in order to document the entire investigation; which is a record number of reports for the Helena Police Department.
Over the last decade emergency services in the city of Helena have failed to keep pace with a growing city and increasing call volume. The all too common mantra of “do more with less” can only go on so long. The recent trend of annexing demanding sections of our community that use more resources without increasing staffing is recipe for disaster.
There is far too much history and information to provide in one short letter, but we would love the opportunity to meet and discuss how this levy could be amended to actually address the largest concerns facing our growing city. It’s also worth noting our association has a strong history of working with the city. Our association has strived to meet with the city to settle issues without the need for arbitration, legal expenses, or bad press for either party.
Again, we apologize for the timing of this letter, but the Helena Police Protective Association strongly believes the current status of all emergency services in Helena should be reviewed prior to any bond being presented to the citizens of Helena. As it’s currently written this levy is fiscally irresponsible and will not address the overall crisis the City of Helena and its residents face. We would love the opportunity to meet in person to further explain this complex and long overdue issue. Please feel free to reach out
Sincerely,
HPPA Board Members,
President- Corporal Jared Ryan
Vice President- Senior Officer Andrew Barton
Secretary- Corporal Matthew Lewis
Treasure- Senior Officer Tyler Wood
At Large- Corporal Domingo Zapata
At Large- Corporal Joshua Ray
At Large- Detective Spencer Snelling
